Visual communication apparatus

ABSTRACT

A visual communication apparatus of primarily synthetic resin material and including a plurality of pivotable mirrored surfaces operated by a single actuator to cause the mirrored surfaces to pivot from a usual misaligned position to an aligned position whereby light may be reflected. A spring biases the mirrored surfaces to the misaligned position. A light source and a sight may be included as convenient accessories.

United States I Patent Summersby I [54] VISUAL COMMUNICATION I-lotchner... ...40/33 [451 Dec. 5, 1972 3,003,268 10/ 196i Chan ..40/33 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 8,096 1910 Great Britain ..1 16/20 Primary Examiner-Louis J. Capozi Attorney-Joseph H. Golant [5 7] ABSTRACT A visual communication apparatus of primarily synthetic resin materialand including a plurality of pivotable mirrored surfaces operated by a single actuator to cause the mirrored surfaces to pivot from a usual misaligned position to an aligned position whereby light may be reflected. A spring biases the mirrored surfaces to the'misaligned position. A light source and a sight may be included as convenient accessories.

7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 1 VISUAL COMMUNICATION APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a visual communication apparatus, and more particularly to a visual communication apparatus which may be conveniently used in a survival kit because of its ability to be hand-held,

its rugged construction, its relative inexpensiveness, an 1 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a new and improved visual communication apparatus comprising a housing; a plurality of mirrored surfaces pivotally connected to the housing and adapted to be pivoted between a position whereby the mirrored surfaces are aligned in'a plane to transmit a signal by reflecting light and -a position whereby the mirrored surfaces are misaligned; means supported by the housing and connected to the mirrored surfaces for pivoting the mirrored surfaces in a preselected manner; and means connected to the housing for biasing the mirrored surfaces to the misaligned position.

An object of the present invention is to provide a visual communication apparatus which may be easily hand-held.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a visual communication apparatus which is light in weight, yet rugged in construction.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a visual communication apparatus which is relatively inexpensive.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a visual communication apparatus which is simply operated requiring a minimal amount of instruction as to use.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a visual communication apparatus which is floatable in water.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a visual communication apparatus illustrating the mirrored surfaces in a misaligned position.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a plate support for the mirrored surfaces.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the plate support taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an elevational sectional view of the visual communication apparatus taken along line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. '5 is an elevational sectional view of the visual communication apparatus taken along line 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a visual communication apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a plate support used in the FIG. 6 embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the plate support as viewed along line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a visual communication apparatus 10 including a housing 12 tion, the visual communication apparatus is capable of transmitting a signal by reflecting light from a light source, usually the sun. Devices which transmit signals by reflecting light from the sun are generically termed heliographs,while more broadly they may be termed semaphores.However, an even more generic term for such devices is visual communication apparatus and this latter term will be used throughout the present specification and claims. I

In order to appreciate the fact that the apparatus 10 may be hand-held, is light in weight, and is rugged in construction, the apparatus will be described in more detail by once again referring to FIG. 1. The housing 12 comprises two side walls 18, 20, a top wall 22, a bottom wall 24, a rear wall 26, and a front wall 28 having a large cutout 30. Each of the side walls 18, 20 have a plurality of aligned openings, such as the openings 32 of the side wall 18. The housing 12 is formed in an integral unit of a suitable synthetic resin material, such as a styrene, a polyolifin, or a polypropylene.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is illustrated in more detail the mirrored surfaces 16 as they are supported to provide the pivoting motion to move the mirrored surfaces from their misaligned to their aligned positions. The mirrored surfaces 16 are each formed of a coating of aluminum (which may be applied by a known vacuum metal deposition process) upon a support plate 40. The plate has a rectangular frontal surface 41 upon which the mirrored surface is coated, and includes two laterally extending arms 42, 44 which are positionable in a pair of openings, one in the side wall 20 and the other in the side wall 18 of the housing, and provides the simple structure which allows the mirrored surfaces to pivot or rotate relative the housing. In addition, the plate 40 includes a rearwardly extending arm 46 which is disposed essentially perpendicular to the plane of the mirrored surface and perpendicular to the direction of the arms 42, 44. As will be explained in more detail, the rearwardly extending arm is a link which cooperates to pivot the plate.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the pivoting of the mirrored surfaces is accomplished by a reciprocating actuator 50, which is comprised of a plunger 52 integral with an elongated plate 54. The plate 54 has a number of aligned openings, such as the openings 56 and a bottom shoulder 58. The reciprocating actuator is slideable adjacent the rear wall 26 of the housing and is retained in place by having the plunger 52 project through an opening 60 in the top wall. A downward projecting element 62, having generally the same form as the plunger 52, is slideable through an opening 64 in the bottom wall 24.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it is noted that the rearwardly extending arm 46 of each of the plates 40 extends into an opening 56 of the reciprocating actuator, so that as the plunger 52 of the actuator is depressed the elongated plate element 54 will move in a downward direction, as depicted in the views of FIGS. 4 and 5, thereby pivoting the arms 46 as well as the mirrored surfaces 16 to a position shown in phantom where all of the mirrored surfaces are in alignment paralleling the plane of the rearwall 26. In order to return the mirrored surfaces to a misaligned position, as shown in solid line in FIG. 4, a spring 70 (FIGS. 1 and 5) is provided to bias the reciprocating actuator upwardly once the depressing force on the plunger 52 has been removed. The biasing force is created by constructing the spring 70 of a curved wire having one end portion bear against the shoulder 58 of the reciprocating actuator while the other end portion bears against the bottom surface 24 of the housing. In this fashion, a signal is transmitted by reflecting light from a source, such as the sun, by depressing the plunger 52 with the finger; an absence of reflection is achieved simply by releasing the depressing force to allow the spring to return the reciprocating actuator to its upright position.

Included on the apparatus are two accessories which are shown for purposes of illustration and provide the apparatus with more versatility, should it be desired. Mounted to the upper surface and integral therewith is a sight 72 which is a sleeve having an opening 74. The apparatus may be aimed by having the apparatus operator view the signal target through the opening. Attached to the side wall 20 is a light source and power supply housing 76 which contains a light bulb 78 powered by a small battery'SO, shown in diagrammatic form. The purpose of the light is to provide an alternate source to the sun and allows the visual communication apparatus to be operated at night or under hazy conditions.

In operation, an operator grasps the apparatus using both hands and aims the apparatus in the direction of the signal target or sights the target through the sight 72, much like the operation of a camera. With one finger, the plunger 52 is depressed in anyv predetermined sequence, such as when sending Morse code. For example, when the plunger 52 is depressed, light is reflected toward the target; the plunger may be depressed for any length of time to indicate either a short or long signal. When the force supplied by the finger is relieved from the plunger, the spring 70 will bias the plunger upwardly and cause the mirrored surfaces to be misaligned so that there is an absence of light reflection, which in some cases may be a signal in itself. Under hazy or dark conditions, the light reflection may come from the light bulb 78, rather than the sun, but in all ther respects the operation of the apparatus is the same. For ease of operation, a copy of the Morse and/or International code may be bonded to the outer face of the rear wall 26 (not shown).

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated another embodiment of a visual communication apparatus 82 including a housing 84 having a channel shape with a base wall 86 and two side walls 88, 90. Each of the side walls has a plurality of aligned openings, such as the openings 92. Connected between the side walls 88, 90 and pivotal relative the side walls are a number of mirrored surfaces, such as the mirrored surfaces 94. Each of the mirrored surfaces are supported by a rectangular plate element 96 (FIGS. 7 and 8) which has two laterally extending arms 98, 100 for being aligned within the openings of the side walls 88, 90 in a manner similar to that described for the FIG. 1 embodiment. In addition, the plate 96 includes a rearwardly extending flange 102 having an opening 104.

Connected to the housing by being slideable through a sleeve 106 made integral with the housing is a reciprocating actuator 108 having a plunger 1 l0 and an elongated rod element 112. The elongated rod element 112 has a seriesof openings, such as the opening 114 which is alignable with the opening 104 of the support plate to receive a pin (not shown) to connect the elongated rod element and each of the support plates, but yet still allow relative rotatable movements. Located between the sleeve 106 and the plunger is a compression spring 116, which functions in much the same manner as thespring ,70 of the FIG. 1 embodiment. As with the FIG. 1 embodiment, the mirrored surfaces are coated upon the support plate; the material of the support plates and the housing may be of any suitable synthetic resin.

In operation, the plunger is selectively depressed with an operators finger to cause the mirrored surfaces to be pivoted to an aligned position to transmit a reflected light signal. When the force upon the plunger is relieved, the biasing spring will cause the elongated rod element to return to the position shown in FIG. 6 thereby pivoting the mirrored surfaces to a slanted or misaligned position, as shown.

While only two embodiments have been shown of the present invention, it is readily understood that various changes, modifications, and variations can be made to the invention, such as changing the design of the housing structure, the method of coating the support plates, or of pivoting the support plates, without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A visual communication apparatus comprising:

a housing including two side walls, bottom and top walls, each of said side walls having a plurality of aligned openings;

a plurality of mirrored surfaced pivotally connected to said housing and adapted to be pivoted between a position whereby said mirrored surfaces are aligned in a plane to transmit a signal by reflecting light and a position whereby said mirrored surfaces are misaligned;

means supported by said housing and connected to said mirrored surfaces for pivoting said mirrored surfaces in a preselected manner, the pivoting means including a reciprocating actuator comprising a plunger integral with an elongated element having a shoulder and a plurality of aligned openings, said pivoting means further including a plurality of plates to which the mirrored surfaces. are connected, each plate having integral oppositely disposed laterally extending arms and an integral third arm extending essentially perpendicular to said laterally extending arms, said laterally extending arms being received by the openings of said housing side walls and said third arm being received by the openings of said elongated element; and

means connected to said housing for biasing said mirsight connected to said top wall for aiding the aiming of said mirrored surfaces and thereby the transmitted signal.

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a source of light and power supply connected to said housing to allow operation in the absence of sunlight.

An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 including a sight connected to said top wall for aiding the aiming of said mirrored surfaces and thereby the transmitted signal.

A visual communication apparatus comprising:

a hand holdable housing having a bottom wall and two side walls, each side wall having a plurality of openings;

a plurality of plates, each plate including a mirrored surface and two integral oppositely disposed arms, said arms being received within the openings of said housing walls to allow the mirrored surfaces to be pivoted between an aligned position whereby a signal may be transmitted and a misaligned position, each plate also having a third integral arm extending generally perpendicular to the first mentioned two arms;

an actuator including an integral plunger and an elongated plate having a plurality of aligned openings, each opening receiving a third arm from a corresponding mirrored surface; and

springmeans positioned between said bottom wall and a portion of said actuator for biasing said ac tuator to an upward position thereby causing said mirrored surfaces to be in said misaligned position.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said spring means is a curved metal wire having one end portion in contact with the bottom wall and the other end portion in contact with said elongated plate.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said housing includes a top wall having a slot through which said plunger moves responsive to an operators finger. 

1. A visual communication apparatus comprising: a housing including two side walls, bottom and top walls, each of said side walls having a plurality of aligned openings; a plurality of mirrored surfaced pivotally connected to said housing and adapted to be pivoted between a position whereby said mirrored surfaces are aligned in a plane to transmit a signal by reflecting light and a position whereby said mirrored surfaces are misaligned; means supported by said housing and connected to said mirrored surfaces for pivoting said mirrored surfaces in a preselected manner, the pivoting means including a reciprocating actuator comprising a plunger integral with an elongated element having a shoulder and a plurality of aligned openings, said pivoting means further including a plurality of plates to which the mirrored surfaces are connected, each plate having integral oppositely disposed laterally extending arms and an integral third arm extending essentially perpendicular to said laterally extending arms, said laterally extending arms being received by the openings of said housing side walls and said third arm being received by the openings of said elongated element; and means connected to said housing for biasing said mirrored surfaces to said misaligned position, the biasing means comprising a spring bearing against the bottom wall of said housing and said elongated element whereby depressing said plunger pivots the mirrored surfaces to an aligned position and releasing said plunger allows said spring to bias said mirrored surfaces to a misaligned position.
 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a sight connected to said top wall for aiding the aiming of said mirrored surfaces and thereby the transmitted signal.
 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a source of light and power supply connected to said housing to allow operation in the absence of sunlight.
 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 including a sight connected to said top wall for aiding the aiming of said mirrored surfaces and thereby the transmitted signal.
 5. A visual communication apparatus comprising: a hand holdable housing having a bottom wall and two side walls, each side wall having a plurality of openings; a plurality of plates, each plate including a mirrored surface and two integral oppositely disposed arms, said arms being received within the openings of said housing walls to allow the mirrored surfaces to be pivoted between an aligned position whereby a signal may be transmitted and a misaligned position, each plate also having a third integral arm extending generally perpendicular to the first mentioned two arms; an actuator including an integral plunger and an elongated plate having a plurality of aligned openings, each opening receiving a third arm from a corresponding mirrored surface; and spring means positioned between said bottom wall and a portion of said actuator for biasing said actuator to an upward position thereby causing said mirrored surfaces to be in said misaligned position.
 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said spring means is a curved metal wire having one end portion in contact with the bottom wall and the other end portion in contact with said elongated plate.
 7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said housing includes a top wall having a slot through which said plunger moves responsive to an operator''s finger. 